Gregg Underheim is Evil

Or a close approximation to it.

So I caught the last part of the call-in with Underheim on WPR this afternoon. (He's the guy trying to unseat state superintendent Libby Burmaster.) Every third word he said was technology. Now, unfortunately, I didn't get out of school today (yes, on Friday) until after 4:30, so I could not hear everything he talked about. So maybe his answer for everything isn't "technology."

But what I heard was enough to greatly upset me. I was almost a danger to drive.

For example, he described an ideal high school classroom, saving money through technology: A roomful of students, each at a different level in their math studies, working at their own pace--on their own laptops. On the other end of the internet for each of the kids would be "the best math teachers in the world!" he said. And the teacher in the room, he said, would not be a teacher, but a "tutor."

He answered every question I heard--which, as I said, was not every question--with variations on how technology would save money and solve our problems.

But since I wasn't certain that technology was really his single campaign plank, I thought I should look it up to be sure. And, wouldn't you know it, Mr. Technology doesn't seem to have a website (SEE POSTSCRIPT). Nothing from Google, Yahoo!, or even Dogpile. (MSN's search was down.) So I have no idea for sure. (To be fair, it parallels much of what I have read on the race.)

Yeah, sure, there's irony in Underheim's lack of a website. But moreso, here are two immediate problems I have with this "technology" solution:

• Transition costs: It would take at least two years' worth of my salary to outfit my classroom with laptops, infrastructure, and support (cuz you know they'll buy wintels, not Macs). And after that, you'll still need an adult at this end to babysit and an adult at that end to teach. I don't see much costs savings, even in the long run.
  
• Plummeting teacher quality: My plan since I was twelve was to teach high school, not babysit. I know the good teachers and and bad teachers and, while I haven't asked, I can imagine what the good and bad teachers will say. The bad teachers--coincidentally, some of whom are in the business department, so their current job involves babysitting kids on computers--might love it. Us good teachers? We'll be moving to a state where teachers, you know, teach.

I'm looking forward to the Wisconsin Public Television debate, so I can see if I was really hearing things right.

POSTSCRIPT: After I'd written the bulk of this post, I was just looking for the Wisconsin Public Television link and found--through them--a link to Underheim's well-hidden website. I need to spend time with it, and will report later.